Cricket, warm beer and excess mortality are the markers of national character. This week's column is about the ignorance, snobbery and cruelty in the billionaire press, triggered by last week's heatwave. And about the grim condtions children now face in schools. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour can threaten a £10k charge on migrants and still it’s never enough for the hard right. Perhaps there’s a lesson here? 🤔

We love you Ao #lufc

Like piñatas you can hunt

Burnham must meet these 3 key tests: Will redistribution of power mean ditching the broken electoral system? Will redistributed resources mean a real wealth tax and protecting the poorest? And will a focus on local areas come with an end to the gutting of local authorities' budgets?

Rebalancing power is vital – but what good are powers if you can’t afford to use them? Billionaire wealth has hit record highs in this country – while local authorities are shutting down libraries and youth centres because their funding has been cut to the bone.

Talking like a human not a robot is a good start

And we cross live now to No 10 North

I’ve worked in asylum and immigration appeals (many many years ago) and it is not a straightforward process. It requires specialist knowledge of a region’s history, its law, complex fact finding missions from various large orgs, deep knowledge of our own laws, etc etc. Not a job for a layperson.

I hope the next bond markets are women

THIS!!!! 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

'A variety of different backgrounds' We all know exactly what kind of person would sign up for a role like this

Few people understand the scope of the powers UK governments have granted themselves, to criminalise us as terrorists for expressing an opinion. Fewer still understand how illiberal the Court of Appeal judgement is. But @davidallengreen.bsky.social does.🧵 www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

The Burnham/Manchester link is there. People believe he cares about Manchester. The trick now is convincing voters he cares about places that *aren't* Manchester. (At some point he mighr want to think about convincing London voters he cares about London, too, given he needs their votes)

Perversely, I think if people in other northern towns and cities get a sense that only Manchester and London matter – instead of, as now, feeling like only London matters – it will make them angrier, not the opposite. (Source: relatives scattered across said northern towns and cities)

This is Keir Starmer's legacy.

Surprised that the Mail of all papers doesn’t know how house prices have worked in this country in recent years

"Planetary affairs editor" is a job title and a half, isn't it?

We’ve seen this before, and you never know, but right now it feels like the moment England play someone half decent, it’ll all be over

A further disturbance in the Backrooms Blobby, Blobby, Blobby

Kind of joyless but a job done for now

The inevitable pile on after Bielsa loses from those who know bugger all about football. Football is far more than collecting shiny trophies. Bielsa gave us identity, togetherness, joy and created a wonderful team from modestly talented footballers. Sod his critics. We know better. #lufc

BIELSA BIELSA BIELSA 🛒 noscoredraws.com/products/bie...

A nation says in communion “he’s a racist”

Yup

God, England are hard work

It's probably time European journalists wrapped their heads around Heat Index (temp + relative humidity). In high humidity, sweating is less efficient, making heat worse, e.g.: Experiencing 35°C in London UK (70% RH) is more dangerous than 50°C in Phoenix Arizona (15% RH)

These are not "new safe routes" for people to seek asylum as Labour is claiming. They are reworkings of existing routes in a manner designed to exclude as many people as possible and put the onus of protection on individuals and community groups instead of the state which is required to provide it

This is King's Lynn, where Reform want to end action on climate Areas in red are *already* below the annual flood level The black dot is the town hall where they'll debate the motion (once the extreme heat allows them to)

Reform tried to bin a council's climate emergency declaration. The vote was delayed... ...because the chamber was too hot. Even reality has started mocking Reform. 🔥 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Bielsa talks about the farce of the hydration breaks, and then all the fans at the games boo them Fans know how genuine he is

Bielsa is still my hero. His system works with players he can see every day and who buy into his ideas fully. His players let him down. #lufc

Sloppa Pig etc.

Ed Miliband is that rare minister, one who's on top of his brief. He actually knows what he's talking about. Can only assume the vitriol he receives is from vested interests.

ULEZ proves good policy over popularity is what we need. Not dickhead politicians lapping up the support of idiots who want us all to be as miserable as them www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If you want an idea about why it’s so hard to make things better, all the commenters on this article are saying we should scrap electric buses and that Net Zero is a scam

Already seen a: "but where are the climate protestors?" in the wild. A lot of them are in prison for ten years or they're awaiting trial right now. I don't know what to tell you

Harry Wilson is a fucking brilliant signing. Well done Leeds #lufc

Brilliant signing

NY-10 is, according to the Jewish Electorate Institute, the second most Jewish Congressional district in the US. (www.jewishelectorateinstitute.org/p6611) It voted overwhelmingly for a candidate who says Israel is committing genocide. That should challenge assumptions about what American Jews want.

Shameful www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Why is dave hockaday on my World Cup telly? How strange #lufc

This is the standard crowd at Euston, where no one can move

All cats should have red carpets rolled out in front of them

Great shot of the wider Euston station site, showing the limited space available for the plans *as exclusively revealed by London Centric* for stubby platforms for PM Andy Burnham to use for Manchester trains on HS2. www.londoncentric.media/p/euston-sta...

Just beautiful shots of refurbished Class 390s, beamed into the nation's homes.

In the end, there were just a lot more human rights abuses than I was expecting from the human rights lawyer.

Euston is the literal gate to hell.

I bet it’s hot on that train and no toilets work

I used to think Starmer was a good man too but then he demonstrated he lied to get the leadership and get elected so that doesn’t seem like a good man to me. Burnham can be better by actually saying what he believes, even if people don’t like it